California Couple Who Starved Their 13 Children Kept Their Dogs Well Fed

Recently, The Goldwater reported on a couple in California who starved their 13 children and kept them chained to their beds. Now, officials are searching for a home for dogs that the couple owned, and they were better fed than their children were.

The story first broke after one of the children, a 17-year-old girl, broke free from the home with a cell phone and used it to call the police. When police met with the teen they were shocked to find she appeared to be 10-years-old and not 17 because of her emaciated figure.

The girl led police to the home of her parents where she escaped and authorities found her 12 siblings chained to beds in the home and many of them appeared as malnourished and underfed as the first girl to escape. David and Louise Turpin were hit with a slew of charges. Police also found two female Maltese-mix dogs, each around a year old.

<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">Credit: City of Perris</span>

Senior Animal Control Officer Christina Avila described the dogs in a statement saying one was white and one was black and that both appear healthy, friendly and leash-trained. City officials plan to hold a raffle to find a home for the dogs and would like them to both be adopted by the same owner. The raffle opened Friday and the city of Perris is asking people to submit their name, address, phone number and email by January 26 to [email protected]

The Turpins were arrested on 12 counts of torture and 12 counts of false imprisonment, seven counts of abuse of a dependent adult and six counts of child abuse. David Turpin also faced an additional charge of one count of a lewd act on a child under the age of 14. Authorities didn't charge the couple with 13 counts of child abuse due to the fact that the 2-year-old appeared to be getting enough to eat.